Australian parents whose three children died on MH17 tell of unimaginable
struggle to deal with their loss

The parents of three Australian children aged 8 to 12 killed on MH17 say they are in a "hell beyond hell" and that not even those who destroyed the plane deserve such suffering.

In a statement released via Australia’s foreign affairs department, Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris, whose father was also aboard, said: " No one deserves what we are going through. Not even the people who shot our whole family out of the sky.”

The sons Mo, 12, and Otis, 8, and daughter Evie, 10, were being accompanied by their grandfather, Nick Norris, who had agreed to fly with them from Amsterdam to Perth so that they could start school. The parents stayed on in Europe to extend their holiday by a few days.

“Our babies are not here with us – we need to live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives…

“No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for our children, for Mo, for Evie, for Otis. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for Grandad Nick. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for each other. This is a revelation that gives us some comfort."

The parents thanked the family and friends for support and requested privacy from the media, saying that “pain is not a story”.

"We no longer have lives that we want to live by ourselves,” they said. “So we’d like to take the chance to thank everyone, all our incredible friends, family and communities, and to tell you all that we love you very much.”

Of the 298 aboard the flight, 37 were Australian citizens and residents.